Goriška Brda

"Slovenian Tuscany" on the Italian border. Rolling hills of Rebula vines with medieval villages and stunning views. The best producers rival Italian Collio across the border.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Walk the Walls of Rome's Watchtower in the Vines History · Free

   Šmartno was built on a Roman military outpost — the medieval walls you're climbing rest on 2,000-year-old foundations

   Where: Šmartno village, Goriška Brda. Park at the village edge — the car park is clearly signed on the approach road from Dobrovo. Walk through the main gate and immediately you're inside a car-free medieval time capsule.

   What: The cobblestone corridors and five defensive towers you're walking through stand on the foundations of a Roman military outpost — confirmed by Slovenian archaeologists. In the first half of the 16th century, an anti-Turkish fortress was built directly on top of the Roman stronghold, which itself had guarded the corridor running from Aquileia (~65km southwest) toward Pannonia. Aquileia was one of Rome's greatest cities — population 100,000+, the southern terminus of the Amber Road that brought Baltic amber all the way to Rome. Every Roman merchant, every legion moving goods between the Baltic and the Adriatic passed through this valley. The ponca soil crumbling at the path edges is 50 million years old, the same flysch that runs uninterrupted under the Italian border into Collio — proof that the line on the map is political, the land is one.

   How: Walk the full village perimeter — it takes 20 minutes at a stroll. The Church of St. Martin is at the center. Climb to the highest tower for panoramic views over both Slovenian Brda and Italian Collio — the same hill the Romans looked out from. Look for exposed ponca in road cuts near the village entrance: alternating light and dark bands of marl and sandstone, with coin-shaped Nummulite fossils embedded in the rock. Several small restaurants and wine bars inside the walls sell local Rebula by the glass (€4–6). No entry fee — the village is always open.

   Backup: If fog obscures the view (common in early morning), the walk through the cobblestone corridors is the point — the vista is a bonus. The local bar Gostilna Smartno serves Brda wine regardless of weather.

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2. 2 Taste the Moon-Bottled Wine That Changed Natural Winemaking Wine · Price: moderate

   Movia's Aleš Kristančič makes Rebula the way winemakers did before sulfur existed — 9 months on skins, bottled under a full moon, nothing added, nothing taken away

   Where: Movia Winery, Ceglo 18, 5212 Dobrovo v Brdih. The hamlet of Ceglo is a 5-minute drive from Šmartno — follow signs toward Dobrovo and watch for the Ceglo turnoff. Phone +386 5 395 95 10 or email movia@siol.net to confirm your visit. Open Monday–Saturday 1:00–6:00 PM.

   What: The Kristančič family has farmed this estate since 1820. Aleš took over in the 1990s and threw out every modern intervention: no sulfites, no fining, no filtration, no commercial yeast — biodynamic certified since 2004. His signature white, Lunar, is 100% Rebula macerated on the skins for 9 months in oak barriques, then bottled during the autumn full moon because Aleš believes the lunar cycle pulls the sediment deeper into the bottle. The result is orange wine — skin-contact technique that traces directly back to ancient Georgian clay-vessel (qvevri) winemaking and was standard practice throughout the Roman world. Pliny the Elder would have recognized this method. The 2021 Lunar tastes of honey, apricot, dried herbs and a mineral smokiness — complex in a way that no clean white from this region matches. Then there's the Puro: a sparkling wine bottled undisgorged, stored upside down, opened by submerging the neck in a bowl of water, removing the cage, and letting the pressure pop the cork into the water. The yeast sediment rushes out, the clarified wine rises. Aleš claims the mineral-rich pasta water from the disgorgement doesn't need salt.

   How: Ask Aleš or whoever pours for the Lunar (€25–35 per bottle at cellar) and the Puro. If you're lucky enough to see a Puro disgorgement performed, you'll understand why this winery became a natural wine landmark. The estate is not a polished tourist operation — expect a working farm, a philosophical winemaker, and wines that ask questions instead of providing easy answers.

   Backup: If Aleš is absent, the cellar staff pour all current releases. If no one is available at the winery, the Vinoteka Movia wine bar in Ljubljana (Monday–Saturday 12–24:00, Sunday 15–20:00) stocks the full range and performs tableside Puro disgorgements.

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3. 3 Drink the Grape Roman Legions Carried from Pannonia to Gaul Wine · Price: moderate

   Rebula's ancient origin story was confirmed by Italy's leading ampelographer: Roman soldiers moving west through this exact valley introduced this grape to all of Friuli and beyond

   Where: Edi Simčič Wine Estate, Trg 25. maja 8A, Dobrovo v Brdih. Book in advance: info@edisimcic.si. English spoken. Classic tasting with cellar tour and snacks = €35/person (6 wines); Premium = €55/person (8 wines).

   What: Professor Attilio Scienza, Italy's foremost ampelographer, documented that Ribolla Gialla — the same grape as Rebula — was introduced to Friuli by Roman legions marching from Pannonia to Gaul via this precise corridor. The grape originated in the Aegean Islands and traveled west with the army. By 1289 it was documented in writing. By 1382, it was prestigious enough that Duke Leopold III of Austria required Trieste to pay him 100 urns of the region's best Ribolla annually as tribute when he took the city. This is the grape Edi Simčič has made his life's work. Unlike Movia's skin-contact approach, Edi's Rebula is technically clean: 10 months fermentation in oak, 9 months bottle aging, then released with notes of ripe apple, dried apricot, bread crust and a long saline finish — all that ponca minerality intact without the amber color. It's the same grape, same ponca soil, same 2,300-year ancestry — expressed with precision rather than provocation. Ask the guide to show you the difference between the standard Klasik line and the flagship Kolos wines (made only in exceptional vintages).

   How: Book at least 2–3 days ahead. The tasting room overlooks the Brda hills. After the tasting, ask about Marjan Simčič (Ceglo 3b, 5212 Dobrovo) for a contrasting style — the 5th-generation producer 10 minutes away whose Rebula Opoka is named after the soil itself. Marjan's wines are distributed to Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe; the cellar visit is by appointment.

   Backup: If Edi Simčič is fully booked, Marjan Simčič (simcic.si, Ceglo 3b) takes the same grape to an equally serious level. Both producers are within 2km of each other.

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4. 4 Find the Wine That Kept an Empress Alive to Age 86 History · Price: low

   Inside Dobrovo Castle's vaulted wine cellar, 300 bottles from 50 Brda producers await — including the orange wines and straw wines that connect this valley to the Pucinum hillsides Pliny the Elder wrote about in 77 AD

   Where: Grad Dobrovo (Dobrovo Castle), Grajska 10, Dobrovo v Brdih. Entry €3 for museum floors; wine cellar tasting is additional. Hours: Tuesday–Friday 10:00–12:00 and 13:00–15:00; Saturday 13:00–18:00; Sunday and public holidays 13:00–17:00. Closed Monday.

   What: The late-Renaissance castle (built ~1600 on older foundations, by the Counts of Gorizia) now holds the best wine collection in Brda: 300+ bottles from over 50 producers in a vaulted basement cellar. This is where you make the connection between the glass in your hand and Pliny the Elder's account in Naturalis Historia (77 AD): 'Livia Augusta, who lived to her eighty-second year, attributed her longevity to the wine of Pucinum, as she never drank any other.' Pliny located Pucinum near Mount Timavo, on the Adriatic — the Karst/Collio/Brda zone, the exact hills you've been walking all day. Whether Pucinum was precisely here or nearby, this entire region was producing wine prestigious enough to reach the Roman imperial table in the first century AD. The cellar is the place to try the wines you can't find anywhere else: the 'slamno vino' (straw wine — grapes dried on straw mats to concentrate sugar and flavor), any orange/macerated Rebula from a small producer, and the standard dry Rebula to understand the baseline.

   How: Buy the €3 museum ticket first and walk the upstairs rooms — Count de Baguer's collection on the first floor, Zoran Mušič's graphic works (largest collection in Europe) on the second floor. Then descend to the wine cellar and ask the staff which producers are pouring or selling today. The castle restaurant (ground floor) has a terrace with views over the entire Brda landscape — lunch here after the tasting, with a glass of whichever Rebula struck you in the cellar. The tourist information desk inside the castle provides a map of all winery opening hours in Brda.

   Backup: If the castle is closed (Monday, or off-hours), the Dobrovo village square has several wine shops and bars serving local producers. Klet Brda cooperative winery is 500m from the castle and is open to walk-ins for tastings.

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Insider tips

• Marjan Simčič and Edi Simčič for world-class whites

• Movia for orange wines and history

• Smartno is the most photogenic village

• Cross into Italian Collio for comparison